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The final AJ of the year looks back at the past 12 months and forward to the year ahead. We review 2018’s key architectural events and trends and preview the stories set to dominate the new year. We also pick out the people to watch in 2019 and highlight eight key buildings set to complete. And to make sure you’ve been paying attention, there’s a Christmas quiz on the events that shook the architectural world in 2018 and a chance to play spot the building. PLUS a building study of Karakusevic ..

Government pledges £200m investment to university projects

University capital projects are in line to benefit from £200m worth of government investment

Announced by chancellor George Osborne, the funding will enable the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund to double the number of projects it supports.

The organisation received £100m of government funding earlier this year but was heavily oversubscribed. The cash injection will allow the fund to reopen.

Successful first round projects include:

A £60 million partnership between the University of Birmingham and Rolls-Royce for a world-leading research centre for high temperature metallurgy and associated processes for components including turbine blades. This will ensure a more effective translation of fundamental research to production and train engineers from apprenticeships to postdoctoral fellows.

A £32 million partnership of the University of Oxford and a consortium including UCB Pharma, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Boehringer Ingelheim and Takeda for a new centre for drug target discovery and for research based on medical data sets. Bringing together academia, industry and the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, with capability to analyse massive medical datasets, it will help deliver improved medicines, better health care, and economic growth from UK’s life sciences.

A £92 million partnership between the University of Warwick, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and Tata Motors European Technical Centre (TMETC) for a new National Automotive Innovation Campus. This will develop new technologies to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. It will also address a shortage of skilled R&D staff in the automotive supply chain. JLR and TMETC, working with Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick, envisage a 10-fold return on investment through improved products, processes and services.

A £138 million partnership of the University of Oxford and a consortium including Synergy Health, Cancer Research UK, Roche Diagnostics, GE Healthcare and the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, to establish a new world-leading centre for targeted cancer research. This will take an all-encompassing approach to patients with early stage cancer, to develop, test and implement personalised minimally invasive treatments, combined with targeted diagnosis, imaging and therapy.

A more than £35 million partnership between the University of Surrey and industry consortium including many of the mobile communications global industry leaders to build new collaborative international research centre which will support the development of 5th Generation cellular communications. The 5G Centre will provide real-time experimental facilities to underpin the development of new mobile broadband internet products and services.

A £38 million project at the University of Dundee, with co-investment from the Wellcome Trust and others, contributing to a new centre which will increase the scope for translating life sciences research into global healthcare solutions in areas such as cancer, infectious diseases, eczema and diabetes. In collaboration with major pharmaceutical companies, it will help reduce the costs of bringing safe new drugs to market.

A £33 million partnership between the University of Liverpool and Unilever to develop a state-of-the-art materials chemistry research hub, the ‘Materials Innovation Factory’, providing an unparalleled suite of open-access facilities. It will help accelerate research and reduce new product discovery times relevant to range of sectors including sustainable energy, home and personal care, pharmaceuticals, paint and coatings, thus helping to drive economic growth and international competitiveness.

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Ministers have promised £165 million to help create more than 5,000 homes in Birmingham, including the 2022 Commonwealth Games athletes’ village drawn up by Glancy Nicholls Architects and Glenn Howells Architects

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